Quirky facts about the Eiffel Tower

When you go on a tour of the Eiffel tower (https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/paris/landmarks/eiffel-tower), you'll learn about some very interesting facts. Designed by Monsieur Gustave Eiffel, this engineer had no way of knowing how loved and famous the tower would become. On a tour, feast your eyes on the wonderful sights and views while recalling these incredible snippets of information about this amazing structure.

The Eiffel Tower's first visitors

The Tower was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle to celebrate 100 years since the French Revolution. Among the tower's first visitors were the UK's Royal family and Buffalo Bill. The Mayor of Blackpool, England, visited the tower too and was so taken with it that he had a smaller replica built on the seafront of his town.

A beacon of light

In 1960, Charles de Gaulle had plans to take the Eiffel tower down and ship it to Montreal for an exhibition. Fortunately, this never happened! It would have been a nightmare disassembling and reassembling the 18,000 metal parts and over 2 million rivets! Today, come nightfall, the tower is illuminated and literally pulses with light for 5 minutes on the hour. Its beacon casts a beam extends for many a mile over the Paris landscape.

The most valuable commodity in Europe

In 2012, the Eiffel tower was valued at 434 billion euros by an Italian organisation. If this is accurate, it's is most valuable commodity in the whole of Europe. In 1914, the tower played a role in the victory of the Allies at the First Battle of the Marne. A transmitter managed to jam German radio contact, making their advance more difficult. Originally, the Eiffel tower was only supposed to stand for 20 years but thanks to its use as a wireless transmitter it was kept on.